Where’s the Guidebook? Good question. After the Wolf Creek imbroglio , I decided that I didn’t want to be in the business of writing skiing guidebooks. My hide is not thick enough to ward off so much hate.

As ski season approaches, the tension is building. Everyone wants to get out there and get some turns. I watched a video this week that stopped me dead in my tracks. “A Dozen More Turns,” by Terra , is an excellent but terrifying movie about an avalanche accident that left one person dead and another seriously injured. As disturbing as this video is, EVERY backcountry skier should watch it. But I’ll warn you, it’s the stuff nightmares are made of. It’s images haunt me. It makes you think: one minute you’re having the best ski day of your life, and the next minute you’re having the worst day of your life. And the only thing seperating them is timing, decisions, enthusiasm, and snow conditions.

The pull of the “Dark Side” is strong, and one must maintain a constant vigilance to resist it. This video is the sad story of one stoked Tele skier’s descent into the dark side of backcountry skiing:
The Fixed Heel Hell

Whether you’re a stoked Tele skier or a rabid Randonee rider, this video is a classic, must-see piece of work.

Grand Teton, the highest peak in the Teton Range at 13,770 feet, had been skied by a few women, but not an all female team. Until last week. Setting a first, two Jackson Hole women spent 14 hours climbing the peak and skiing down.

One of the purposes of this web site, in addition to posting ski news, equipment reviews, tips, and ski conditions, was to create an online backcountry ski guidebook with route descriptions, pictures of routes and skiing, and detailed maps.

On March 4, I received several threatening, hateful emails from 3 Wolf Creek Pass locals. The reason for the email is that three or 4 locals (supposedly more but only 4 wrote email) are outraged that I had published backcountry ski route information on “their” personal ski area on the North side of Wolf Creek Pass. This article is my response.

LaChapelle, who was 80, was skiing with a group that included his wife, Meg Hunt, Paula Mears, former Colorado Avalanche Information Center director Knox Williams and Art Mears, another Colorado-based avalanche expert.

Cross country ski and snowshoe groups largely panned last month's decision by the U.S. Forest Service to divvy up what had been a 10,000-acre area in Logan Canyon set aside for skiers to also include snowmobiles. Salt Lake Tribune 1/16/07

The Association of Canadian Mountain Guides is Canada's only internationally recognized guide association. On their web site, at http://www.acmg.ca , you can find Mountain Condition Reports, written by trained and certified professional guides.